Question
Hi Natasha,
You have helped us so much already with all the postings we have read. I am writing now, because it is starting to get chilly here on the east coast, and I expect we may have mice entering our house (again)... which leads me to our primary question:
Do you have any suggestions, tricks, etc. for determining where a mouse enters a house? We would love to identify how mice get in before they start!
So, we are animal lovers. I have attached 2 pictures from the last cold season. The tiny baby was rescued from a glue trap w/vegetable oil (we had them in place for bugs). Unfortunately a sibling did not live, so we went all out to save this little one. The 2nd picture is from later, once we were regularly catching and releasing mice. It became a full-time job! We have great woods but obviously did not take them far enough, because we caught and released all the time (with Havaheart mouse traps). At least one, we know, came back from over 1/2 mile (probably beat me home). We understand we should go 2 miles.
My next question concerns me even more: What do I do with the mice I catch during the time of year when it is too cold to release them? I have literally lost sleep over wondering if it was "ok" to release even though it got a bit colder than 50 degrees overnight. At the same time, we don't really want to be a mouse hotel for the winter! (How would I explain THAT one to our pet sitter?). One thing we did always try to do though, was once we caught one we would try for at least another, so that we could release them together.
Next question: When we release multiple mice, they always seem to run exact separate ways! Can they find each other again? Once you have seem them sleeping in a big furry pile together, it feels important that they are able to stay together.
Natasha, again, we are so grateful for your help and advice. So many of your answers before have already helped us. I hope the images attached properly. I know you said you enjoy seeing them. We await your reply, and we stand ready with our supply of rubber gloves and face masks to deal with who the chilly weather brings in.
Thanks in advance!
AnswerDear Emily,
I haven't solved the problem much more than you have. I also get uninvited visitors. Last winter I took a very tall bin and made a lovely home for them. Because they had been making a complete mess, I named it Mouse-Mo. They were sentenced to hard labor-- I hooked up their wheels to make power for the house : )). Well, somehow they managed to get to the very top and chew a tiny hole in the plastic to escape. You'd think they'd like it in there with ready food, etc...
We have often tried in vain to trap them. City mice are very, very smart. We have tried about 6 different kinds of traps, including the Havahart. You can trap one mouse once and then the others know better. Plus city mice are so much smaller than other mice so they can squeeze out of traps. They end up using the traps as a buffet. One time I thought we had a great new trap and I put a Triscuit in it with a slice of Swiss cheese. When I checked it in the morning, there was no mouse in it but the cheese was under the Triscuit so I would know they had been there. They were thumbing their little whiskered noses at me!
For the moment there are fewer of them in our home because it is summer. We have gotten used to seeing them here and there... although twice they gave our pet mice and rats mites. One day I was sitting on the couch with one of my dwarf rats and he nestled up against my leg and I went to pet him and it was a wild mouse. Another time I was sitting in the pen with the mouse-sized rats and was absentmindedly picking them off of my shoulders as they ran up and tried to jump out of the pen. I looked at what I had in my hand and it was a wild mouse!
I haven't helped you at all. You are right that they need to be taken over a mile away. And I do recommend keeping them over the winter unless you can find a warmish place outdoors. But you gotta do what you gotta do. If you do let them loose in the winter, bring them somewhere where you can leave them a cardboard box with lots of warm, easily movable bedding from their cage and lots of food. There should be two mouse-sized openings, because they feel safer that way. You can return for the box later when the mice are gone, probably after a week or so. It doesn't have to be cardboard if you want to reuse it. It would be nice if it were big enough that they could spend a day or so in it beforehand, to get used to it.
If you want to go all out, build this shelter for them:
http://mouseranch.com/FYI/releaseShelter.html
As for running separate ways, I really don't know if they find each other. I don't know if their sense of smell and communication reaches far enough that they find each other when they have each found a quick place to hide.
As to figuring out where they come in.. absolutely anywhere and everywhere that they can fit. A mouse can squeeze through any crack its skull fits through, because they have collapsible ribs! A common entrance is around pipes as they fit through walls. You have to think like a mouse-- examine every corner of every room.
Another bit of advice: Simply discourage them by making sure there is not a crumb of food available for them. Everything goes in plastic or metal bins or in closed cupboards. Food is never left out.
Lastly, another option is electronic pest repellent devices which work through ultrasound and other principles I'm sure I don't understand. These just plug into the wall and emit noises that make the mouse's ears hurt and make it want to go away. Supposedly they don't affect cats and dogs. Here is an example:
http://www.victorpest.com/store/rodent-control/ultrasonic-rodent-control
You may be able to find other tricks online... I think they are supposed to hate peppermint, so you could spray Dr Bronner's peppermint soap around where they may get in.
I hope I have helped in some small way! If you figure something else out, let me know-- I might want to do it myself! Let me know how my advice works for you.
squeaks n giggles,
Natasha
<:3 )--~
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